Blowing Hot & Cold

Weekend has arrived and with it a nice dose of sunshine, along with it came the pollen and misery. Hay fever is something I have learned to live with for years now. I love the countryside and the flowers, unfortunately they don’t love me. I had a nice trip to Mustang Maniac with the aircon on full blast trying to keep cool and giving myself the metal bubble sanctuary from the pollen. I arrived to see a fairly empty yard and Adam moving a couple of cars around. Holiday season for them and they still managed to finish a couple of cars. I have seen a car down there that was “restored” by another specialist Mustang restorer and it was being sorted out properly by guys. I got changed and Adam gave me my list of jobs to do on my little lady. It was a final tidy up and rust removal, then out with the paint brush for the Red Oxide again. I have left some spaces where there needs to be a little bit of welding to be done.

before

tunnel before

inner shock tower

all completed

tunnel painted

inner shock red oxide

front rad panel

There was also the issue of the body filler that was there from a couple of weeks ago too. I still had my Dewalt dual action sander (review here), with me and used that to take it down to flat and almost smooth with the 100grit disc. I left it a little rough on purpose in order to give the paint a good key to stick too. It looks pretty good around the tunnel area now I must say.

Sunday was lazy day as I was having feeling sorry for myself with the hay fever thing – did I mention that? Sympathy vote being looked for here by the way. Seriously I decided to clean the heater controls from the car that blow the hot and cold about the car and demist the screen. The chrome was pretty poor looking and the cables not working very well. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned it while sitting in the garden subjecting myself to more pollen. The lever mechanism was degreased and all the chrome was polished. The only thing there was an issue with was the grub screws that tiny that hold the knobs on the from of the levers that allow you to remove the chrome plate. All were fine except one that was tight and I didn’t want to round the grub screw off. I cleaned the grub out with a needle that allowed the Allen key to fit all the way in and it cracked free. The results are pretty good I must say. I have posted the full walk-through process here or click on the quick link at the bottom.

The before shots of the controller looking worse for 48 years of grime.

After the clean up all looked pretty good.

spring clip to remove the levers if required

before assembly

assembled

all cables in place

Quick Links:

Tools review – Dewalt Randon Orbital Sander D26453 or click here for the hyper link

Photo Menu – Inside the Car – Heater Controller Recondition or click here for the hyper link

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Secret rules

The weather this weekend for a change has been gorgeous, hot and not a cloud in the sky. Is our summer finally here? A bit late but I will take all the sun I can get at the moment. This Friday evening we got the garden swing seat out from the cover and I was able to evict the cushions that have been squatting in the corner of my shed since last summer. They take up so much room, I could put my Karcher jet washer there, and few power tools in that space. The wife sneaks things into the man cave and puts things on them in her little corner and they fall off. So when I open the door I am greeted by an avalanche of cushions Wellington boots, trowels, hand forks, plastic pots and cardboard boxes from god knows where. The corner of the man cave right near the door. She has the house and garden, I have the garage and the shed – that’s the rules. But women play by a secret dirty secret set of rules that only they know about, they are allowed to put things in my area when they see fit. Yet when I bring in a set of brake springs in the house and sit at the kitchen table ready to treat them, you would have thought somebody had just pushed the nuke button! Trying to explain it’s only a temporary measure seems to add fuel to the fire. Does anybody have a copy of these rules I could look at please, or at least explain them to me. Anyway, while sitting in the swing seat watching the birds and the bees in the garden while sipping on an ice-cold bottle of Bud, I heard the comment, “I think a flower bed would look nice there.” Epic, not. So I chipped in with only if we have butterfly and bee loving plants. With that the Saturday was sealed but I didn’t know it.

Saturday morning and I was straight out into the man cave, I got the front valance out again and rubbed down the filler that has been built up, rubbed down and built up again. The work was almost done when they, being the wife and mother-in-law got back about five hours later. The front valance and grill valance were now ready for their spraying and I was feeling pretty pleased with my little ol’ self.

There were repeated trips from the car to the back garden with plants which were laid out around the area that they wanted the plants to be, yeah I got my bee and butterfly plants “Hot Lips” apparently! They looked quite nice to be fair. Then the shovel came out, from my man cave and the marking of the grass began. As they decided the ground was too hard to dig it was passed to me to dig. Great, the day has been baking in the high twenties and the earth was like rock. I questioned why now and got told the plants would die if I didn’t. I was reminded that I had done my own thing on the car all day so I could now help her do the flour bed. Bearing in mind I looked like I had just been rolled in a giant pack of flour due to the ultra fine dust off the valance while I was rubbing it down. Within minutes the sweat was pouring off me and the dust was now turning into a paste again. Eventually after the new ground was dug up I was released to go and do what I wanted. At that time laying on the grass waiting to pass out seemed like a good idea. But the compost went in the new flower bed, then they got the hand trowel and fork – from MY man cave, and they started to dig the holes only to find out that they could only get down to the rock hard clay that I had got too. So yes, yours truly had to dig the deeper holes for the larger plants.

Sunday was a day of more tiny rub down as I missed a bit to make a final surface prep. The shower curtain went down on the grass and I sprayed the valance and the grill valance, firstly with the Rust Encapsulator I got from Frost, then some grey primer and left them to dry in a shady part of the garden. Then I decided to clean ~~the sauna~~ my man cave out and tidy the Snap-On tool box up a bit. About a month ago when I was bleeding the brakes I needed some very small AF spanners. I bought a set of spanners that were ring one end and open-ended the other. They weren’t very expensive as there is no real leverage required. What I did notice was that they were always falling about and looked a mess in my OCD laid out tool box. I had an idea and looked on eBay where I purchased some carabiner clips like the climbers use for their ropes. Mine was small and not meant for climbing but they sure make a brilliant spanner clip. The spanners come off and go on with no problems and now they are all together! What do you think?

So this weekend was all about compromise, I do the work on the car and then I do work in the garden when the ground is like concrete. The garden it has to be said does look really nice. I sit here thinking; if I didn’t have that beer would I have still had to dig the flower bed? I reckon.

Quick links:

Front valance work updated, click here for link or go to the Photos – Bodywork – Front valance project part 2.

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Slight change of plan

Sun’s out for a change!

I need to ask a question. Why is that when I was re-routing a brake line for my dual Master Cylinder I managed to knock the brake line flaring tool case with my elbow. My own fault for balancing it on the cowl, but I did managed to catch it. Of course everything went everywhere, I was standing there looking like I lost £10 but found £5 if you know what I mean, but no I was holding an empty plastic case. I heard that dreaded clink clank again of various bits rattling down the engine. The flaring dies that make the double flares are quite small and I found four out of the five pieces. My question is where do the bits go that you can’t find. I have looked for hours and I mean hours. I have a torch with a Blue Point mirror tool looking in all places. I know that my started motor teeth are OK and not rusted up. I know that I have missed a little bit with my rust treatment on the left hand side of the chassis just under the steering column. I now know that I have a bolt missing on the bottom part of the exhaust manifold on the left hand side. What I don’t know is where that little mushroom-shaped bit went. Do the gremlins come along steal it, and run off before I see them. If I catch the disruptive swine, will his pockets be filled with thirty plus years of car bits I have lost? It drives me mental. I have rocked the car, I have put my hands in every tiny gap that I could, I have even used my magnetic pick up tool to probe places that I didn’t know existed. I have had bits of grime and rusty bits drop into my eyes and hair when I bang under the engine, as if it would make a difference! I swear it’s not there. Is this just me and my bad luck or does it happen to anybody else? This is not the first time it has happened to me, I have lost nuts, washers and clips. I have still not found them. Perhaps there is miniature version of the Bermuda Triangle that is currently located under that Ford small block v8 in my garage, the Mustang oblong maybe!

OK, so I was going to get the car out and start her up and use the brakes to drive her in and out. I have half bleed the brakes to the rear with the new dual master cylinder from Mustang Maniac and all was well. I was going to do the fronts but other things side tracked me a little on Saturday and couldn’t finish it off. So as today was a lovely day I had a change of plan decided my time would be better spent in the garden, it was time for some bodywork action. I have already removed the damaged paint and the pitted filler from the front valance and the grill valance here in part 1. I have taken some more pictures of the Valances for part 2 and updated the pages, or just click here for the quick link. I have applied a total of three applications of the filler and rubbed down each one to make it a level as possible to smooth out the low spots. The hot weather has made application of the filler a bit of a race against time as the drying process was pretty quick in the warmth. I can bleed the rest of the brakes when it is raining next, that’s an inside job, where as sanding and getting caked in filler dust is not an ideal man cave job in the rain!

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Back on track & Check lists

Lots of updates in one go this weekend.

At long last I have been able to do something worthwhile for my car. The snow has gone after heavy rain overnight. Due to the sun being out and no rain I decided to go for the Bumper Stone Guard part 2 repair. This was to de-rust the top side, fill the dents and a factory stamp mark that almost came through the metal itself, and then spray it. So there I was in my working tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. I’m a real man I can take it. Snap-On tool box keys, Check. Man cave lock and padlock keys, Check. Stupid grin on my face, Check. Trainers with no grip, Check. I opened the door, and the fresh air hit me, stupid grin still there? Slipping, but confidence is sky-high. Stepped outside of the patio on to the grass, speeding up as I went to the man cave to save face and not admit I was cold. All my plans went up in the air, as did I. Trainers lost traction and the mud bath was beckoning to my back side, I looked like a spider on acid skating on ice. It was arms and legs everywhere. In fact it reminded me of my classic dance moves when I used to own the disco dance floor. Ok, perhaps I wasn’t that good but I thought I was. Thinking about it, I got more dates when I didn’t dance, especially when I unleashed a few well rehearsed special moves on floor. Well, in the films it obviously impressed everybody, it didn’t impress any ladies enough so that I would get a date though. That John Travolta film has got a lot to answer for, that’s all I can say. Anyway, I managed to stay on my feet, like a baby giraffe trying to stand for the first time. Grin still there? Checking, nope, it’s a grimace now. I came straight back in and changed my shoes to work boots, putting on a jumper and fleece on as well at the same time, just in case it got cold of course. My next venture to the man cave was more dignified to say the least.

As a result of doing the Bumper guard I used the Dinitrol 6030 bodywork filler. I have had quite a few hits on my Dinitrol page which was under construction for a while. Yes, I had used it before but had no pictures to go with what I had in mind. So being the bright spark that I am I had a brain wave, do them both at the same time. Yeah, see where I’m going with this?

The results were great. One day rubbing it all down and filling. Today rubbing down and spraying. I managed to take photos of the bumper guard being repaired and also for the review the Dinitrol filler too. The Bumper Stone Guard part 2 pictures are now in the Photos section, or click here. The Dinitrol review is under the Consumable Reviews section, or click here. From what I can see, this is the first Dinitrol review in depth on the net. You read it here first!

Results all round then, photos, review and a finished bumper guard.

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Redesign of website!

Blog improvements?

Before you panic and say “he’s broke it” I haven’t.

On the right hand side there were menus that were getting longer and they looked a little messy. I still had people ask me where the photo’s were!

So, I decided to split things up a little for the better, at the top under the header there are now, 7 buttons; Home, Forums and Discussions, Best Mustang Ever, Photos, Tool Reviews, Part Review & Consumable Reviews. If you click on them they take you to the places or the will drop down into menus and subsections. This means everything of importance is at the top now, so no excuse to not find anything. The book reviews I have still left on the right, there are now menus that tell you what is coming soon for each section.

I hope it now works better for you and more natural to look at. The site has got bigger than I expected a lot faster too. I have added a Tags section, click on the words and should show the posts that mention it, or just do a plain ol’ search.

Please let me know what you think, leave it or change it back – I hope not anyway 🙁

Cars

At the weekend I hope to do a little work with Bumper Stone Guard and see how it goes. I intended to take some photos for the review of the Dinitrol filler as well, two birds with one stone and all that! Still not decided on the final colour of the car and the interior colours, I have added forum here or go to all the forum sections and let me know what you think on a number of subjects. .